VANCOUVER -- Seven years have passed between the release of Bonnie Raitt's new album Slipstream and her last, Souls Alike, which came out back in 2005.

Many things happened in between, not all of them rosy for the 62-year-old blues singer-songwriter and slide guitar legend.

The passing of friends and family members, including her brother, her mother and father, Broadway singer John Raitt, forced the icon to put down her bottlenecks for a few years in order to bounce back.

The time away from the studio and the stage has done wonders for Raitt, who looked positively radiant on the Queen Elizabeth Theatre stage in Vancouver Friday night.

Sporting her singature fiery, white-streaked mane, Raitt opened the evening with heartfelt words.

"Vancouver it's been too long!" Raitt exclaimed before saluting opener John Lee Sanders, calling him one of her heroes.

Sanders, sporting a stylish suit and hat and backed by a solid four-piece band, had just finished warming up the crowd with his New Orleans-flavoured heartbroken blues.

The Louisiana-bred, Kelowna-based award-winning keyboardist who recently won a battle against stage four throat cancer was obviously quite honoured to set the stage for Raitt.

Sanders shook the house with numbers like the groovy Lost In the Shuffle, where he rocked the keys as well as the saxophone, much to the delight of the crowd.

Raitt was in heck of a great mood, barely able to contain her excitement to be back on the planks as she wrapped her set opener Used To Rule the World.

"I'm probably going to have this grin on my face during the ballads too," she said. "I missed you guys!"

The crowd didn't hesitate to give her some love back.

With her backing band -- Mike Finnigan on keyboards, James Hutchinson on bass, Ricky Fataar on drums, and George Marinelli on guitar -- Raitt quickly got lovey-dovey with her trusty “Brownie” Fender Strat, a guitar she has played at every gig since 1969 and that she fed through two small but punchy BadCat amps.

Her warm tones, both on vocals and on strings, echoed through the room, which she praised for its acoustics, bathing her audience in a gauzy glow.

Marinelli and Raitt traded guitar licks on Gerry Rafferty's reggaefied Right Down the Line, Marinelli going for the crunch while Raitt let her bottleneck skills speak effortlessly.

Songs from Slipstream, an album Raitt produced herself with the help of Joe Henry and which she released on her own label Redwing Records, made up a good portion of the first half of the concert, though she handed out hit song Something To Talk About fairly early. It may have been a bit too early, the audience unsure if it should get on its feet as it heard the tune's signature opening slide part.

Raitt casually switched gears, grabbing her acoustic to deliver a stellar rendition of Bob Dylan's Million Miles, Finnigan shining on keys, Marinelli delivering a disarming solo in the middle.

She followed with the Loudon Wainwright III and Joe Henry-penned ballad You Can't Fail Me Now.

"It doesn't get much better than these two," she said.

She spent time between songs casually telling stories, talking about touring with Mavis Staples earlier this year and going on Austin City Limits and doing her own makeup, which didn't turn out exactly as she had hoped.

Raitt is 62? When she kicked into a rollicking Love Sneakin' Up On You, simply nailing that slide guitar solo, she certainly didn't seem anywhere near her sixties.

When someone asked about the stuffed monkey doll sitting atop Marinelli's monitor, Raitt casually explained how a fan had left it in their dressing room a long time ago.

"That's Babu," she said. "George took it to his bunk after the show and no one wants to ever touch it again."

And so the evening went on, relaxed, casual and filled with killer tunes: Come To Me, from 1991's chart-buster Luck of the Draw, Marriage Made In Hollywood, co-penned by Raitt's former husband Michael O'Keefe and Paul Brady, the heartbreaking Not Cause I Wanted To, which Raitt dedicated to songwriters Al Anderson and Bonnie Bishop, and John Prine's Angel From Montgomery, which drew a long standing ovation.

"Without these songwriters I wouldn't be where I am right now," she said.

She brought them all to life with such vivid passion that one could argue these songs wouldn't be where they are without Raitt.

Finnigan got his chance to shine singing I Got News For You while rocking his Hammond organ, and the whole band took it home in style with a powerhouse I Feel So Damn Good (I'll Be Glad When I Get the Blues).

Raitt just nailed her Vancouver comeback, and she made it look and sound all too easy.

In the end, she even brought out Colin James, fresh from the airport (James just returned from a string of festival gigs out East) for the final encore, "winging it" as if it was the most natural thing on I Thank You.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Saskatoon loves its Christmas lights. The Enchanted Forest draws thousands of vehicles each week. The late Bob Hinitt worked for months building his light display, which drew thousands of cars each year to Wiggins Avenue. And Scott Lambie on Clinkskill Drive has continued the tradition with more than 70,000 dancing lights (up from 50,000 last […]

When it comes to gift giving, they say it’s the thought that counts. But many are wondering if Mayor Drew Dilkens was thinking at all when he gave Olympic superstar Michael Phelps — whose battles with booze are well known — a big bottle of Canadian Club whisky.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.